[25th May 2020] Supplement to Official Gazette 245

DEFENCE (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2020

(Act 19 of 2020)

I assent

Danny Faure
President
19th May, 2020

AN ACT to amend the Defence Act, Cap 58; to provide a

legislative framework for the Seychelles Coast Guard; to
repeal references to both the Seychelles People's Navy and
the Seychelles People's Militia; and for matters incidental
thereto.

ENACTED by the President and the National Assembly.

1. This Act may be cited as the Defence (Amendment) Short title

Act, 2020.
246 Supplement to Official Gazette [25th May 2020]

Amendment of 2. The Defence Act is amended as follows —

Cap 58 as last
amended by
Act 13 of 2006 (a) by repealing the word “Navy”, wherever it
appears in the Act, and substituting therefor the
words “Coast Guard”;

(b) in section 2 —

(i) by inserting in the proper alphabetical

order the following definition —

““Coast Guard” means Seychelles Coast

Guard;”

(ii) in the definition of “enrolled” by deleting

the words “or Militia”;

(iii) by repealing the definition of “Militia”;

(iv) by repealing the definition of “Navy”;

(c) in section 3 —

(i) in paragraph (b) by repealing the words

“The Seychelles People's Navy” and
substituting therefor the words “The
Seychelles Coast Guard”;

(ii) by repealing paragraph (d);

(d) in section 4 by repealing the words “, Air Force

and Militia” and substituting therefor the
words “and Air Force”;

(e) in section 5 in paragraph (b) by repealing the

words “in section 30 and 32” and substituting
therefor the words “in sections 30, 32 and
35B.”
 [25th May 2020] Supplement to Official Gazette 247

(f) in section 16 in subsection (3) by repealing the

words “or to the Militia”;

(g) by repealing section 19;

in section 25 in subsection (2) by repealing the words “, Air

Force or Militia” and substituting therefor the words “or Air
Force”;

(h) in section 28 by repealing the words “or of the

Militia”;

(i) in section 29 in subsection (1) by repealing the

following words —

(i) “or the Militia, or both,”; and

(ii) “or the Militia”;”

(j) in section 31 by inserting immediately after the

words “under section 30” the words “, 35B. or
35C.”;

(k) by inserting immediately after section 35 the

following new Part —

“PART VIA - THE SEYCHELLES COAST

GUARD

Interpretation 35A. In this Part unless the context

otherwise requires —
“hot pursuit” means hot pursuit
as defined under Article 111 of
the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea, 1982;
“innocent passage” means
innocent passage as defined
248 Supplement to Official Gazette [25th May 2020]

under the Maritime Zones Act,

Cap 122;

“maritime zones” means the

internal waters, the territorial
sea, the exclusive economic
zone, the contiguous zone, the
archipelagic waters and the
continental shelf of the Republic
within the meaning of the
Maritime Zones Act;
“narcotic drugs” shall be
construed as meaning a
controlled drug as defined by the
Misuse of Drugs Act, 2016;

“piracy” means piracy as

defined under the Penal Code
Cap, 158;

“ship” means every description

of vessel used in navigation,
whether self-propelled or not,
and includes barges, jet skis,
seaplanes and other similar craft
and vessels;
“trafficking in persons” means
trafficking in persons as defined
under the Prohibition of
Trafficking in Persons Act,
2014.

Duties of 35B.(1) The Coast Guard shall,

Coast
Guard. subject to the provisions of this Act,
primarily be employed as a military
service organisation of the Defence
Force for the defence of Seychelles and
[25th May 2020] Supplement to Official Gazette 249

protection of its sovereignty and

territorial integrity and rights in relation
to the maritime zones of Seychelles.
(2) The Coast Guard and each
member of the Defence Force assisting it
in an operation shall, without derogating
from the investigatory or law
enforcement powers of the police or any
other authority, exercise and have —
(a) all the powers, authorities,
privileges and immunities
of the police, under the
Police Force Act, Cap 172,
and any other law, and
when acting as such shall be
deemed to be acting as
police for the purposes of
the Police Force Act and
any other law;
(b) the powers of arrest,
apprehension and detention
conferred on authorised
persons under section 23 of
the Maritime Zones Act;
and
(c) the powers of arrest,
investigation, inspection
and detention conferred
on an authorised fisheries
o ff i c e r, u n d e r t h e
Fisheries Act, 2014, and
when acting as such shall
be deemed to be an
authorised fisheries
officer for the purposes of
the Fisheries Act.
250 Supplement to Official Gazette [25th May 2020]

(3) The powers conferred by

subsections (1) and (2) shall be for the
purpose of the enforcement of
Seychelles' maritime laws, maritime
security, maritime safety and marine
resource protection in relation to the
maritime zones of Seychelles, and in
particular the enforcement, or assistance
in the enforcement of the provisions of
any law relating to —

(a) customs and revenue

collection;

(b) immigration and nationality;

(c) quarantine;

(d) ports and harbours;

(e) fisheries protection;

(f) marine resources and

environmental protection;

(g) safety of navigation;

(h) marine pollution;

(i) search and rescue;

(j) port security and safety;

(k) recreational boating safety;

(l) Port State Control;
(m) piracy, maritime crime and
violence;
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(n) trafficking of narcotic

drugs;

(o) a r m s o r a m m u n i t i o n
trafficking;

(p) trafficking in persons;

(q) transnational criminal

activity;

(r) maritime terrorism;

(s) maintaining territorial

integrity and sovereignty of
Seychelles maritime zones;

(t) defence of Seychelles;

(u) protecting archaeological or

history objects or sites;

(v) enforcement of all maritime

conventions or agreements
that the Republic is party to,
including but not limited to
those such as or, as the case
may be, relating to the
following —

(i) Safety of Life at Sea

(SOLAS);

(ii) Maritime Pollution

(MARPOL);

(iii) Oil Spill Prevention

Response and
Cooperation (OPRC);
252 Supplement to Official Gazette [25th May 2020]

(iv) the International Load

Lines Convention
(ILA);
(v) U n i t e d N a t i o n s
Convention on the Law
of the Sea (UNCLOS);
(vi) the Tonnage Convention.
(w) to perform any other
function that may be
conferred by this Act or any
other written law.
(4) In performing its functions
under subsection (3) in relation to any
matter, where the Coast Guard is not the
authority with responsibility for that
matter, the Coast Guard and its members
shall act in consultation and coordination
w i t h t h e r e s p o n s i b l e M i n i s t r y,
Department or Agency, except in a case
of emergency, as determined by the
Commandant or other member of the
Defence Force who at the time is in
command of the Coast Guard.
(5) The Coast Guard shall
cooperate with and assist any other
public authority during emergencies or
disasters or in the execution of a public
authority's mandates in the maritime
zones.

Powers of 35C.(1) The Coast Guard shall have

Coast the power to undertake all the actions
Guard
necessary for the performance of its
duties under this Act or any other written
law.
[25th May 2020] Supplement to Official Gazette 253

(2) Notwithstanding the generality

of subsection (1), the Coast Guard shall
have the powers, consistent with
international law, within the maritime
zones, to —
(a) receive and consider any
report of the commission
of an offence;

(b) s t o p , e n t e r, b o a r d ,
inspect or search any
structure, place, ship or
aircraft engaged in or
suspected to be engaged
in any unlawful activity;

(c) seize or detain any ship

or aircraft engaged in or
suspected to be engaged
in any unlawful activity;

(d) demand the production of

any licence, permit,
record or any other
relevant document and to
examine such licence,
permit, record or
document or make copies
or take extracts from such
licence, permit, record or
document;

(e) investigate any offence

which it has reason
to believe is being
committed, is about to be
committed or has been
committed;
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(f) exercise the right of hot

pursuit;
(g) dispose of any fish, article,
device, goods, ship, aircraft or
any other item that is
connected to the commission
of an offence, subject to the
provisions of this Act or any
other written law;
(h) arrest any person, in the
maritime zones or on land,
who it has reason to believe
has committed an offence in
the maritime zones, and
secure or preserve evidence,
whether in the maritime zones
or on land, relating to the
offence for which the person
is under arrest:
provided that the arrested person
and any evidence preserved shall
be handed over to a member of
the Police Force as soon as
practicable;
(i) conduct research, study or
any training necessary for the
performance of its functions;
(j) record statements or make
inquiries, inspections or
examinations as may be
necessary under this Act or
any other written law;
(k) assist in environmental
protection and anti-poaching;
and
 [25th May 2020] Supplement to Official Gazette 255

(l) expel any ship or aircraft

whose presence in the
maritime zones is detrimental
to the national interests of
Seychelles, or is likely to
endanger order and safety in
the maritime zones.
(3) Subsection (2) shall be without
prejudice to the performance by any
authority of similar duties under any
enactment enabling it to do so.
Innocent 35D. The Coast Guard shall not
passage
stop, enter, board, search, inspect or
detain a ship or aircraft in the maritime
zones if the passage of the ship or aircraft
in the maritime zones constitutes
innocent passage.

Immunity of 35E. No action, suit, prosecution

members of or other proceedings shall be brought or
the Defence
Force. instituted personally against any member
of the Defence Force in respect of any act
done in good faith in pursuance or
execution of the member's duties or
powers under this Act.”;
(l) in section 36 by repealing the words “and
Militia”.

I certify that this is a correct copy of the Bill which was

passed by the National Assembly on 13th May, 2020.

Mrs. Tania Isaac

Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly